In today’s podcast we turn our attention to the Apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 to hear how Paul is praying for God’s people to come to know and understand what it means to be in fellowship with God, so that we live a life that is full of the love, hope, joy and purpose that comes from the full participation in the life of God that is made possible for us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In today's podcast (Episode 56) we move forward in our exploration of this incredible Gospel truth of our fellowship with God. We will look at 1 John 1:5-2:2 and discover that our fellowship with God means that we also have fellowship with one another. John throws us a curveball as he unpacks all of this. Instead of saying that if we walk in the light as God is in the light, we have fellowship with God—which is what we would expect— John says that if we walk in the light as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. We cannot have fellowship with God and opt out of fellowship with one another. The two Gospel truths go hand in hand. Listen, reflect and then pray about all of this today. 

Today we begin a new emphasis that will take us through the summer of 2021. We belong to the fellowship of God. This is not an overstatement. This is a Gospel statement. And this is what we want to explore and think about and pray about all summer long. Our fellowship is with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the Word of God in 1 John 1:1-3. This is where we will begin in today’s episode as we ask ourselves the all-important question, "What does it mean to be in fellowship with God?"

1 Corinthians 15:16-18. In today’s episode we want to think about what the cross of Christ would mean without the resurrection. For obvious reasons, many Christians tend to focus especially on the cross of Christ. But it has not always been this way. The emphasis of the preaching of the Apostles was Christ is raised, not Christ is crucified. Every knew Jesus had been crucified at the decree of Pontius Pilate. This was old news. The Good News is that Jesus is raised! This is literally the beating heart of the Gospel. This is what we want to think about in today’s episode.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3. Today we want to hear an ancient prayer of optimism that I hope will inspire us to pause and reflect on the good people in our lives, the good people in our world today, so that we give thanks to God for who they are what they do. Don't get stuck on all the problems in the world. Take the time to name the  people in your life and in our world for which you are thankful to God.

In today’s episode we want to think about what it must have been like for the early followers of Jesus as they eagerly waited for the promise of Jesus to be fulfilled. They were all gathered together in Jerusalem waiting for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on them. What were they doing while they were waiting? They devoted themselves to prayer. There is certainly something for us to learn from this as we wait for another promise of Jesus to be fulfilled. . . the Lord’s return in glory! 

We are now just a few days away from Passover Sunday on May 23. This is the anniversary of the day Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on his disciples, just as he had promised. In today’s episode we want to take a few minutes to explore exactly what happened in Jerusalem on that Pentecost day and why it matters to us today.

Today we want to focus on the matter of Christian prayer. We need to be devoted to daily prayer. Every Christian ought to be praying continually. I hope today’s podcast will encourage you to pray more faithfully in light of our Lord's return to the heavenly realms to present his blood in the sacred sanctuary made without hands. Hebrews 2:11-18 and 4:14-16 tell us that we can approach God's throne of grace with confidence because Jesus knows what it is to be tempted by sin. He gets it. He understands. And he can help us.

In today’s episode we want to think about what it must have been like for the Apostles when Jesus was taken up before their very eyes to return to the Father in glory. This event is known as the Ascension and it took place a little over a week before Pentecost, the day when Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on all of his disciples and the Gospel of Jesus was announced publicly through the preaching of the Apostles. We will talk about the events of Pentecost on Friday’s podcast. Today we want to talk about Christ’s ascension. Thursday of this past week was the anniversary of this event that happened nearly 2000 years ago. What does Christ’s return return to the heavenly realm to take his seat at the right hand of the Father in glory mean for us today? This is what we want to pause to think about in today’s episode.

In today’s episode we want to hear and think about an ancient prayer of confidence and hope. Today’s prayer is a very simple and short prayer that exudes faith and hope.  It is, "Marana tha!" or when translated, "Lord, come!" If we dare to pray this prayer, hopefully it will shape our day, our attitude, our behavior, our outlook and our aim. The hope at the heard of this simple prayer is what we want to explore in today's episode.